Sasha Louhi
by Julie.fjad
Summary: Sasha is kidnapped by Death Eaters, one night, who plan to use her for some fun. They think they have caught a 'mere muggle' - they are very wrong. Voldemort sees an opportunity and sends her to Hogwarts, to spy alongside Severus Snape. [Follows OotP Storyline]
1. Prologue

Author's Note:

In this story I attempt to follow as closely as possible the fifth book (Order of the Phoenix), with the addition of my OC. I don't make all of it (the two sides of the war, specifically) as black and white as J.K. Rowling did, however.

The Harry Potter universe and its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. My OC and any mythology I've added in this belong to my own mind.

If you have suggestions, opinions, ideas,… I'd love to hear about them. I always welcome ways to better my writing.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

She was returning home, early in the morning, after having gone to a concert. As usual, she entertained herself by observing the few people she passed in the streets as she enjoyed the refreshingly cold air hitting her face. Most, at this hour, weren't sober.

When she walked past an alley, her right arm was suddenly grabbed by an unknown hand. She stumbled into the small street. Before she could react, the world around her was swallowed in darkness.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

She awakes on a cold stone floor. Her limbs hurt. It's quite a sombre room she finds herself in. She's confused about the location. Still, there is enough light to make out her surroundings. She stirs, trying to sit up.

"Get up!" a male voice hisses from behind her. Once again a hand grips her arm and pulls her up roughly. She almost falls down again. The same voice hisses once more: "Walk!"

She's pushed towards a doorway. Stepping forward, she blinks a few times, sorting out her thoughts in the process. Her mind finally clear, she observes the room she's in. It reminds her of a grand ballroom, found only in old mansions. The few carved details she can see in this near-darkness are beautiful, she notices. Next, she concentrates on the double doors in front of her. One is slightly opened; she slips through the opening, urged by the unknown people behind her. She is too curious to try and find an exit. She knows she needn't worry – she can take care of herself.

The next room is as grand as the last. This one appears to be a dining room, as the long table to her right indicates. Around it, many figures clad in black are seated. She notices the few odd and puzzled looks that are sent her way. At the head sits an inhuman looking man. He has a snake's features. She steps closer to the table. She feels the magic buzzing in the air.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," she murmurs, exasperated, when she senses it. She stops walking when she's near the man at the head of the table.

"What is all that mumbling supposed to mean, muggle?" The snake-like man spats. His tone implies he isn't all too happy to be speaking to her, "You won't speak unless ordered to."

She raises her eyebrows, "Muggle?"

"Non-magical creature," someone unidentified quietly explains, behind her.

"Oh," she smiles, "non-magical? Sure, whatever you like to think."

The man narrows his eyes. She almost expects him to reprimand her like a naughty schoolgirl for speaking out of turn. When he lifts his wand, her eyes widen for a moment; surprised.

Before he can word the spell, his wand flies out of his hand. Furious, he gets up – his robes floating along – and watches his followers. Most of them try to hide in their seats.

"Who dares to disarm me?" His voice is ice cold, as are his red eyes. Still observing the table, he stretches out his right hand in the direction of his fallen wand. The wood flies back to its owner.

He notices the girl smiling mockingly. "What?" he hisses, annoyed with not knowing something this lowly muggle obviously does.

"Well, I find it mildly amusing that you are accusing your _dear_ followers of something they didn't do."

"So you are a witch with wandless powers, are you?" he sneers, finally guessing what is going on.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"You're an evil wizard?" she suggests, shrugging mockingly.

Furious, he raises his wand again, "_Crucio!_"

The spell doesn't reach her. It bounces off an invisible wall in front of her and dissipates. Her eyes are closed tightly in concentration, her body is tensed. When she opens them again, she's met with a furious glare.

"Who and what are you?" He demands, rage flaming in his red eyes. His followers don't dare to move.

"I'm a witch," she states, "though obviously not alike your kind," she then adds, frowning pensively at his wand. Thoughts about who these people might be travel through her mind.

"Impossible. Speak the truth!"

"I am speaking the truth. My name is Sasha Louhi, and you are?" Her voice is relaxed as opposed to the strange man's fury – no one would suspect her turmoil and confusion about these people, safely concealed in her mind.

He ignores her question, "That's-"

"Quite possible, my Lord, if I may?" a man's deep voice speaks. He is seated at the 'lord's' left side. As he raises his head to speak, his black, shoulder length hair falls back, revealing sharp features and a prominent, roman nose. This must be one of his more loyal followers, she deduces, as he isn't reprimanded for interrupting the leader.

"Continue."

"Yes, my Lord. In Finnish myth there is a witch who can do wandless, wordless magic. Her name is Louhi."

She nods, "Indeed. She's an ancestor of mine." At her answer the black-haired man glances at her for a short moment, before turning back to his master, waiting for his reaction to this information.

With new interest the leader appraises her, "Are you aware of the war we are currently in?"

"I am not. I've been living among muggles, as you call them, for many years now. I assume you wish to recruit me?"

"Perhaps. Severus," he turns to the black-haired man, "you will inform her of the current situation, as well as introduce her to that old fool as a new student. If she doesn't agree with us, kill her." The leader speaks as though she isn't standing in the same room.

"And I shall just agree with everything?" Sasha wonders out loud, "I'll just let _him_," she nods to Severus, "kill me if I don't agree?"

"It has been decided," the leader speaks, finally, "Dismissed."

All of them get up while their leader vanishes before she has a chance to object.

Severus approaches her, "Come," he simply orders, before continuing on his way to the exit.

"Why should I?"

The man glares at her, "Considering you don't even know what I will tell you, I suggest you at least hear me out before making a decision you may later on regret. You may be able to deflect his curse, but, I assure you, blocking ten or twenty of those will not be as easy."

[To be continued]


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter two**

He brings her to a medieval castle – they apparate there, as he calls it. It's beautiful. She has always liked these kinds of places. It's intriguing, full of mystery, dark.

She follows him to the entrance. His cloak billows out behind him. The entrance hall is empty. She looks around as they ascend the stairs. The castle is really beautiful, she envies those who work or study here – though she wouldn't want to be stuck in a castle, however beautiful, year-round.

They arrive at two gargoyles. Severus murmurs something indiscernible – a password, presumably – and a moving staircase appears. At the top, behind a door, they arrive in a rather unusual office. The rounded room is filled, top to bottom, with special, unique artefacts and many books. Behind the desk an old man is seated. He looks up at them, observing them through his half-moon shaped glasses.

"Severus? Who is this young lady?" He questions the dark man.

"Not to be disrespectful, sir, but may I first inquire who you are?"

"Of course," the man nods, "I'm Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of this school."

She faintly recognizes that name, but she can't place it. Perhaps she once read about him? She does, sometimes, read books about the magical world she knows exists next to the non-magical one, even though she never got into contact with this world, until now.

"There's no need to worry, you're safe here," he continues with a soft, calming voice when she doesn't react immediately, mistaking her silence for fear. She simply nods.

"So you don't know who I am? You are a witch, yes?"

"I am indeed, though not exactly the same way all of you are. My name is Sasha Louhi."

"Louhi? Where have I heard that name before?"

"In Finnish mythology, presumably," Severus drawls from beside her.

"Ah yes, thank you Severus, I thought it sounded familiar. So you are the descendant of Louhi, which explains your different powers."

She nods, "Indeed."

"And, pray tell, Ms Louhi, why are you here, now?"

In her stead Severus explains calmly, "Rowle and a few others, in hopes of having some 'fun', decided to kidnap a muggle, last night. But when Dolohov reached out to touch her, while she was unconscious, he was thrown back. He thought Rowle or one of the others had done it, but all denied it. The Dark Lord stepped in and ordered them to bring her to him, so he could question her. He ordered her to spy for him at the school, among the students, when he found out about her, seemingly unique, powers."

Sasha raises her eyebrows at him, "You're a spy," she deduced, "Alright then. Seems to be full of surprises, this world of yours," she states.

Dumbledore's eyes seem to twinkle in amusement behind his glasses, "He is indeed. Severus works as a spy for our side, pretending to be on their side."

Unbelievingly she raises her eyebrows, "How can you be so certain? He tells the exact same thing to that 'lord'."

"I will answer that question, in time. But, Ms Louhi, you simply agreed to Voldemort's idea? Should we be worried?"

She smiles, "Honestly, I didn't even know there was an actual war going on. I was too busy trying to live a 'normal' life, for once. He ordered me to side with him, or he'd have me killed. I didn't have much of a choice."

"Well, I'm sure Severus will explain everything shortly. We do still have to sort you into a house, however."

"It might be better if she actually knows what a house is, before she's sorted into one, don't you think, headmaster?"

"Yes, yes, true, indeed. Why don't you both go to your office then, Severus, and explain everything to her? Afterwards you and Ms Louhi can come back here. In the meantime I'll notify a couple of the most involved Order members."

Severus nods and turns to the door, "Come," he orders once again. Sasha, a bit confused by all of this, follows after a last nod to the headmaster.

In the corridors his long legs allow him to walk quickly. She barely manages to keep up. They descend many staircases until they arrive in the dungeons. He stops abruptly at a wooden door. After moving his wand in a certain pattern, the door opens by itself. He goes in first. When she, too, is inside, the door slams closed behind her. They've arrived in an office. He sits down in a leather chair behind a dark, wooden desk. She sits down in front of him, on the other side of the desk, in another black chair. She waits patiently as he opens the left drawer and takes out a bottle and a tumbler. He fills the glass with an amber liquid. He questioningly looks at her while still holding the bottle, silently asking her whether she wants a drink. "No, thank you."

He puts the bottle away again and throws back the tumbler. He leans back in his chair, turning the emptied glass around in his hands, observing her with obsidian eyes.

"What do you know about this world and 'our kind' of magic, as you put it?" he grumbles.

"Not much. I've never socialised with your world as I've always tried to remain unnoticed. I did read a couple of books, however that was quite some time ago."

He raises one eyebrow, another silent question, 'why stay in the shadows?'

"I have enemies who are looking for me; who'd better not know where I am. As soon as I find a way to end them, though, I'll look for them, instead of the other way around."

"Hm. I shall tell you – as briefly as possible, I don't have all day – everything of importance to your stay here, then."

He explains the origin of the war to her, starting with the founding of Hogwarts and the conflict between Slytherin and the other three founders, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Next about Voldemort and his followers (he even shows her, with some reluctance, his dark mark). And the history of Harry Potter, whose parents were murdered by the madman. He tells her about how he finally felt some remorse and decided to turn back to the light. (She feels, however, he isn't telling her everything about that remorse.) And then, about his status as a spy as well as about the Order of the Phoenix. Finally, he tells her about the last few years with Potter and friends.

"Any questions?"

She shakes her head in the negative, "No, not yet anyway."

He nods.

"So now I have to get sorted?"

"Indeed. But first: have you decided which side you're on?"

"How will you know whether I speak the truth?"

"Do you know legilimency? The power of invading one's mind, seeing their memories as well as feeling the feelings paired with them?"

"Mind-reading, you mean?

He snorts at the 'muggle' term, "Yes."

"I never practised mind-magic of that kind, no."

He raises his wand. Surprised, she tenses and watches him, "What are you doing?"

"I'll use legilimency on your mind to find out whose side you are on."

"What if I lied, and I have, in fact, practised mind-magic? After all, now that I know you're on the light side, I could pretend to be with you and then go tell the Dark Lord about your real loyalty."

"We'll see," he simply answers, "_Legilimens!_"

She closes her eyes, instinctively trusting this man.

Flashes of the last few hours pass their mind's eyes, the last few days, months, years. He flips through them, reviewing her past, until the flashes suddenly stop at one strong memory.

_She was but a small child, eight years old at most. She ran through a forest until she arrived at a small village. She felt excited and couldn't wait to tell mother and father about her adventures of the day. There were perhaps twenty houses, all made out of wattle and daub in wooden frames, grouped around an open space. She ran towards a house that was built a bit farther away from the open space than the others. Inside the home was dark, cold. The only light came from the doorway, no fire was lit. She felt her excitement diminish, a strange sense of foreboding overcame her. As she entered she saw why. A woman lay on the floor, unmoving. "Mother!" the girl cried out, her voice full of anguish and pain. Getting closer to the deadly-white woman she saw another, bloodied body on the ground, a man, "Father!"_

_With a gut-wrenching inner pain she realized: they were dead._

She harshly falls back into her chair. Severus, who had stood to cast the spell, stumbles backward, surprised by what he's seen. Both are breathing heavily. He sees, for the first time, a flicker of vulnerability in her eyes. For a moment she closes her eyes. She breathes in deeply, calming herself. Seconds later she looks up again. The deep, dark blue is harsh again, cold and unfeeling, the slight moisture has disappeared. He silently wonders how she can possibly stay this calm after reliving such an experience. It's rather disturbing.

"That was certainly different," she states with an even, nearly cold, voice.

"How old are you?" His voice is stern.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me."

"How old do I look?"

"I'm not talking about your physical appearance. When were you born?"

Ah. He must've noticed the memory he saw was a lot older than the fifteen or so years it should've been since she was eight. Considering she's showed him her innermost thoughts, she might as well give him her birthdate too, "I was born on the 24th of October 1695."

"How?" He obviously doesn't know whether to believe her or not, despite having seen that memory. Witches and wizards do live longer than muggles, but they can't live for three hundred years – and even over three hundred, apparently, as she doesn't seem to be old or fragile at all – with the exception of Nicolas Flamel and his wife, since they used the Philosopher's Stone. On top of that, she can't possibly look this young after having lived for such a long time. Even magic – at least the magic he knows of, which isn't little – can't disguise old-age for long. But she's a different kind of witch, and he doesn't know the details of her powers.

"Our bloodline, the Louhi-line, that is, has the power of making us live longer and look any age we want. Most of our line decided to live out a normal human life and let their body die. By keeping one's body at a rather young age and not letting it age, one can live much longer, which is what I did. I have no idea how long this can last for, however, as no one's ever actually tried to live endlessly. The reason I do this is to avenge my parents. I'll only let myself die once their murderer has suffered and died." Her voice was ruthless and emotionless as she spoke the last few words.

He doesn't comment on any of it, he only stores the information for later reflection.

"And what about you?" she then asks, as if she hadn't just spoken those words, "Which side are you on? Are you a simple spy or a double agent, walking the sharp edge?"

"I told you, I'm a spy on the so-called 'light side'."

"How do I know for sure? You say you felt remorse, but is that enough? I've seen plenty of the Dark Arts and I know one can't just simply let go of it, just because one decides it."

He doesn't ask her what exactly she knows about the Dark Arts, he knows he'll find out in due time. For now, he knows enough by viewing her memories. "It indeed was not easy to overcome the dark. Point is, I did, and that was a long time ago. Therefore I assure you, I am with Albus in this war, just like you."

"How are you so sure I am too?"

"I didn't just see that memory, I briefly sensed a few other parts of your life as well, which means that, even though I didn't see those memories as explicitly as the last one, I know you went through a dark phase and got out. I know you'll do the right thing and not willingly succumb to the dark, however appealing it may be to you."

She nods in understanding. He's right about his observations.

He gets up and she follows his lead. While walking back to the headmaster's office she realizes she's quite hungry. As soon as they arrive at the entrance with the gargoyles, her stomach starts to rumble.

"Lunch is being served in a few minutes. We'll go shortly after the sorting," Severus tells her, before uttering the password.

Upstairs, Dumbledore is waiting for them with an old hat placed in front of him, on his desk – the sorting hat, she now knows.

"Welcome back. Please, sit," he gestures, smilingly, towards the two empty chairs. Sasha sits down while Severus remains standing. Dumbledore gets up to place the tattered hat on her head. She casts her eyes down to the floor, listening to the hat's voice in her head: "Well, well, well, what have we got here? You are quite a bit older than the usual new students, aren't you? Let's see… You are quite intelligent, no doubt about that, brave too. You certainly know what you want. You do possess a dark side, don't you? Sly, ambitious, but, at times, chivalrous as well. We shall put you in… Slytherin!"

Dumbledore looks worried, Severus looks rather pleased, and Sasha is already thinking about how she could become acquainted with Potter and the others, in order to gain some information, to deceive the Dark Lord.

She removes the hat and places it back on the desk. She then looks at a pensive, frowning Dumbledore, "So, any idea on how to win Potter's trust, or should I simply follow my instincts?"

He looks up, "Just be civil when encountering Harry and his friends. I'll give you further directions, soon. For now you shouldn't let them know who you really are."

She nods.

"And here is your uniform," he adds, as he hands her the robes. She lays them on the desk and puts both hands on them. She quietly murmurs something indiscernible, and the clothes are swapped: those she was wearing are folded on the desk and she now wears the uniform. Neither of the wizards comment on the magic she used.

[To be continued]


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Severus accompanies her to the entrance of the great hall.

"From now on you should call me Professor Snape, among the students," he tells her, before leaving her at the entrance. Many students watch her curiously as she walks to the table where she sees students wearing the same colours she is. She sits down, and looks up to the teacher's table. Severus comes in, his robes flowing dramatically, and takes his seat. He looks at her and nods once, before focusing on his plate.

"New student, are you?" an obnoxious voice comes from her left side. She looks at the girl. She has a round face and medium-length brown hair. Sasha simply nods, hoping the girl won't say anything more, as she has an annoyingly loud and piercing voice. Sadly, she continues, "Why are you so late? Classes started weeks ago."

"That's none of your business."

The girl watches her through suspicious eyes, "Hm."

"And why is that?" asks a boy who's seated in front of her. He has white blonde, short hair and high cheekbones. He reminds her of someone.

She doesn't answer him, but asks a question instead, "Are you Lucius' son?"

When Severus explained everything, earlier, he told her who the most prominent Death Eaters were, describing a few characteristic traits of each so she would know which name belonged to which face.

His eyes widen, he appears smug when he answers, "Yes. I'm Draco Malfoy. You know my father?"

She watches him pensively, "Sort of." Meanwhile she thinks, 'Well, I saw him at a Death Eater meeting, does that count? Hmm.'

"You didn't answer my question," he then states.

"Indeed." She enjoys tormenting the boy, he looks far too happy with himself.

"Well?" He's obviously waiting for an answer.

"Well nothing."

The boy doesn't look happy at not getting his way. He seems like a typical spoiled little brat who's used to always getting what he wants.

She finishes eating – in silence, thankfully; the rest of them noticed she wouldn't let them know anything, for now. She leaves the table and its suspicious occupants, and continues to the hall's entrance. She's going through when a girl crashes into her. The girl instantly starts apologizing, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I didn't look where I was going—"

Sasha was about to interrupt her, to tell her it was okay, but a deep, familiar voice is quicker, "Obviously, Ms Granger. Ten points from Gryffindor."

The Granger girl doesn't look up and silently heads to her table. Sasha raises her eyebrows to Severus, "That was a bit harsh."

He doesn't answer, "Follow me," he states, "I'll show you the Slytherin dormitories."

She shrugs and simply follows him. Several students go out of their way to avoid the professor. "I met Lucius' son," she tells him when they arrive in a deserted corridor.

"Draco."

"Yes."

"No, you should say Draco. The students will wonder how you know Lucius' first name, otherwise."

"Oh, okay."

"It's here, the password is 'Pureblood'." He taps the stone once with his wand, the stones move aside and a doorway appears.

She nods, "There's just one problem; I don't have a wand."

"Right. Let's go to my office. There we'll be sure not to be overheard."

In his office he explains the way a wand chooses its wizard or witch, and how despite the fact that a wand that isn't one's actual wand won't work as well, it will often work for, at least, simple spells.

"Considering you don't actually need one, only to integrate and be unnoticed, it won't matter which wand you have. As soon as I've procured one, I'll call for you."

"Okay, but in the meanwhile I have to go to class, don't I?"

"I'll talk to the headmaster about that. Since it is but a week until the end of the semester, you don't have to follow those classes; or not actively, if you do decide to go. Before the start of the next semester, you'll have your wand."

She nods, "Thank you, Severus."

"Professor, or sir."

"Yes, in public areas."

"Hm."

She smiles, "Good afternoon."

He nods curtly. With a movement of his hand, the door opens and she leaves.

The rest of the day Sasha spends exploring the castle. It's quite interesting, especially the magical qualities about it, such as the living portraits and the moving staircases. On her walk she nearly bumps into a woman who's just coming from around the corner. She's clad entirely in pink. Sasha absolutely abhors that colour. The woman is small, chubby and kind of looks like a toad.

"Well, well, well. What have we got here?"

Ugh, not another one with an annoying voice.

"Why aren't you in class?"

"I'm just a new student, looking around," Sasha answers, "Not causing trouble of any kind, don't worry," she smiles.

"Do not talk to me like that! Don't you have any respect? Come with me."

"What? Why?" She doesn't get an answer, but, in order to not cause a scene and stay – somewhat, at least – unnoticed, she follows.

They arrive at the woman's office – an atrocious pink room filled with bows, lace napkins and cats painted on plates covering the walls. Once they sit down, the professor asks, "So you are the new student?"

"Indeed, Professor."

"Now tell me, why didn't you come to Hogwarts when you were eleven?"

"I was home schooled." The woman is suspicious, Sasha notices. But why does she ask such questions? Her position in this school is lower than the headmaster's, so shouldn't she simply trust him? "Why do you ask, professor? I'm sure the headmaster will explain all of this, if he hasn't already."

"Do you know who I am and why I'm here, child?"

Ha, 'child', if only she knew… "To teach?"

"That too. My name is Dolores Umbridge – that's professor Umbridge to you – and I'm a ministry official. I'm here to keep an eye on this school, for the ministry. Therefore I can ask you whatever I want to. Not that I should justify myself to you, but you are new, which is why you apparently don't know everything yet." She seemed to be talking to herself, in that last sentence. "Now, tell me," she continues, "why aren't you being home-schooled anymore?"

"My parents died."

"You say that very calmly, almost emotionless." Yep, she's still suspicious.

"I am not an overly emotional girl and I don't like to talk about it, professor, does it matter?"

"No… Not at all… And in which year are you?"

"Fifth year."

"You appear to be older."

"Yes, well, I'm seventeen but Professor Dumbledore decided to put me in fifth year anyway. You should talk to him about that."

"Oh, don't worry, I certainly will."

"Will that be all?"

"Mm, yes, for now. Be sure to follow the rules. Breaking them will, most certainly, result in a detention."

"Yes, that's normal, is it not?"

"Indeed, child. Have a nice day …?"

"Sasha, Sasha Louhi."

"Have a nice day, Ms Louhi."

"You too, professor."

She is happy to finally be out of that room. Truly annoying, that woman. She's startled by a girl's voice, next to her, "So you had to talk to _her_, did you?"

Sasha looks up; it's the same girl she bumped into before, the Granger-girl who got points taken by Severus. She's got voluminous brown curls and brown eyes. When she sees it's Sasha, she looks surprised, "Oh, I'm sorry. Never mind."

"Wait, it's okay," she calls her back, "I know your last name's Granger, what about your first name?"

"Oh, um, I'm Hermione. I'm from Gryffindor," she then adds. Hermione seems to be surprised she's talking to her, and a bit suspicious as well.

'So this is one of Harry's friends, if I'm not mistaken; that's convenient,' Sasha thinks as she recognises the name as one Severus mentioned when talking about Harry Potter and his friends.

"Yes, I noticed when professor Snape took points, earlier," Sasha smiles, "I'm Sasha, by the way, Sasha Louhi."

"Okay... Nice to meet you, Sasha. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm simply surprised you're talking to me; I'm a Gryffindor, you're a Slytherin. Our two houses don't usually interact. Not civilly, anyway. But you're new, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, I guess that's why I don't really care about this thing between Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"That must be it. And your parents must not have told you about all of the rivalry then?"

"Well, they never went here."

Hermione nods understandingly, not asking anymore questions about the subject, to Sasha's surprise,

"Anyhow, I'm going to the library, do you want to come along?"

"Yes, sure, I love books."

"Great, finally someone who does, my other two friends hate the library."

"Well, shame on them," Sasha laughs.

The library is huge. It smells of old paper and dust. She immediately loves the place. Together they look through the collection. After a while she asks, "Hey, Hermione, are you looking for something specific?"

Hermione pops her head around the corner of the rack Sasha's browsing, "Not really, I'm just trying to find something interesting, to read as a pastime. Why?"

"I thought I could help you, if you were looking for something, that's all."

"Okay," Hermione smiles at her and returns to her rack. She seems surprised Sasha would want to help her.

A short while later the library doors open. A boy's voice calls out, "'mione? You here? Oh, there you are."

Somewhere someone hushes him.

"Not so loud, Ron, what's the matter," Hermione's voice answers.

"Nothing, really, we were just wondering if you could look over our potions' essays," another boy's voice explains.

Sasha goes towards where they are standing, rounding the corner of a rack to look if those two voices indeed belong to Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter, as she suspects.

Hermione is standing with her back to the racks, the boys are facing the direction Sasha comes from. They are a redhead, who looks rather joyful despite it being a Monday, and a boy with messy black hair and round glasses who, in contrast to his friend, seems tired. The redhead whispers – quite loudly for a whisper –, "Uh oh, snake spotted…"

"Ronald!" Hermione chastises. She turns around, "Don't mind him, Sasha, he often speaks without thinking."

"Oi!"

"Aren't you the new girl?" the other boy – Harry, most likely – asks, frowning at her.

"Yes, I'm Sasha," she replies as she walks closer and joins the group.

"She's okay, boys, she's not like the other Slytherins. She's actually nice," Hermione tells them.

The black-haired boy smiles, though his smile seems strained and his eyes have a flicker of suspicion, "Hi, I'm Harry, this is Ron."

"Nice to meet you," she nods.

It was rather easy to find the three friends, luckily. She doesn't want to make any more 'friends' than is needed for her plans. "What is the odd look on your face for, Ron?"

"I'm just surprised a Slytherin can be nice, is all."

"Um, thank you?" She smiles at them. "So you two are the ones who hate books, right?" She looks at Hermione for confirmation.

"Yes, that's them. See," she turns to the boys, "I found someone who does like books. Told you I wasn't the only one."

"Well, then you're both unique," Ron decides.

"I needed to look over your potions essays?" Hermione then asks.

"Oh, may I read along? That way I can see what you're learning currently, as I haven't attended a class as of yet."

"Of course. Come on, we'll sit at that table over there."

The four of them talk until dinner time, hardly getting any work done. As it turns out, getting close to them while being a Slytherin isn't so hard after all. They are walking to the great hall for dinner, still talking, when they come across Severus in one of the corridors.

"Potter. Not causing trouble again, are we?"

"No sir," his eyes are narrowed and Sasha feels the hostility flowing off him in waves.

"Well, run along. I need to talk to Ms Louhi, here."

"Yes sir." The three of them quickly continue their way. They look over their shoulders, though, to give Sasha a pitying look. She simply smiles, shaking her head when they are out of sight.

"Come," the professor orders.

"You say that quite often, have you noticed?"

"Hm. Hasn't their mindless blubbering bored you yet?"

She chuckles, "No, not yet. They're not so bad, really."

"Good thing you think so, you'll be spending a lot of time with them."

"Where are we going?"

"The Headmaster's office."

As soon as they enter the eccentric room, Headmaster Dumbledore greets them, "Ms Louhi, Severus… I hope you like the castle, Sasha?"

"I do, Headmaster. It's…," she looks for a fitting word, "intriguing."

"Good, very good. Now, first of all, Severus talked to me, earlier, and we have decided to give you a place in the Order. Severus appears to believe you are on our side, and so do I."

She nods. They are right in trusting her. She realises they don't have a lot of proof, so she's happy they believe her nonetheless. Severus must've told him about the legilimency; that was probably the main, if not only, reason for believing her.

"And," he continues, "we have acquired a wand for you." He opens the top left drawer of his desk and takes out a long, thin, black box. He carefully takes out a darkly coloured wand. It's a dark brown, nearly black. Its surface is somewhat rough. The handle is well-defined with purposefully carved lines.

"Here, try it."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

It's a foreign feeling, holding a wand, sort of unwieldy to her, but she supposes she'll get used to it.

She focuses on a book that is laying on his desk and moves her wrist upwards, the wand following the movement, the same way she does usually with her hand. One half of it raises up into the air, but she can't levitate the rest of it. "Hm." She frowns.

"Try this movement," Severus takes out his wand and, focusing on the book, first whips it to the right and then down. The books completely rises.

She imitates him, once it's back on the desk. Indeed, the book levitates. "Thank you, Severus."

He nods.

"You will still need to learn the names of incantations. It will be noticed if you always use wordless magic. And also the wand movements, apparently, as they seem to affect your magic. Perhaps Severus will assist you?"

The professor simply nods again.

"I will, headmaster," Sasha answers.

"Well then, one more thing. You will be spending the Christmas holidays with the Order, or, more specifically, with Harry and the Weasleys, since all of the Order won't be at headquarters during the entire holiday."

"Will I?"

"Yes, it's the perfect opportunity to be introduced."

"That's a good idea, indeed," she agrees, "but I will need to leave for about two or three days, during the holidays, for personal matters. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, though I would advise you to go after you've been introduced and not during the festivities."

"That won't be a problem, I don't have a fixed date yet, anyway."

"Also, it might be best if you leave Hogwarts by train, like the other students. Perhaps even along with Harry, Mr Weasley and Ms Granger. I will let Mrs Weasley know she has to take you with them, as she's the one who'll come to get the three of them, along with the other Weasleys, from the railway station."

[To be continued]


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

The last week of term before the holidays passes quickly. Sasha doesn't go to classes yet, and during this free time she studies the wand movements and incantations, like Dumbledore suggested. Whenever Severus has a free period, he assists her, by indicating the spells she should know about, the books she should consult, and a few other charms that could come in useful, one of these days. In between these 'lessons', they talk, quite reluctantly on Severus' part, about his classes, the way she'll have to act when they get summoned by the Dark Lord and about various other subjects.

The last day of school, Friday, she once again meets up with him in his office, for the last time. They have developed an understanding, perhaps even some kind of friendship, over the last week. He doesn't intimidate her – he had to grudgingly accept that rather quickly – and she likes his snarky humour. He'd never admit it, but she is sure he likes that about her.

She goes down to the dungeons at three o'clock in the afternoon, right when his last class has ended. She arrives when the students – fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors – are leaving. Harry, Hermione and Ron are among the first to get out of the classroom.

Hermione greets her as soon as she notices her, "Hey, Sasha!"

"Hello, you three," she answers, "This was your last class, wasn't it?"

"Yes, thank Merlin!" Ron sighs. Hermione and Sasha laugh, Harry smiles slightly. Sasha has noticed the boy is never truly smiling, he always seems to be in his own world, and he's easily annoyed. She has gotten used to it, though it is obvious he wasn't always like this. She often sees Hermione and Ron looking at him with worried expressions on their faces. Due to the stress he undoubtedly has to endure and the fact that no one believes him about the return of the Dark Lord, she supposes it's pretty normal of him to react this way.

Since they are standing to the side of the door, almost all of the other students have left without noticing her. Sasha is glad. She just can't stand the suspicious looks, every single time they spot her, especially when she's with Hermione, Harry and Ron. She doesn't mind at all that she hasn't made friends in Slytherin, since there are hardly any actual friendships in her House; everyone is focused on their own ambitions and will do anything to reach their goals. It's just annoying to constantly feel eyes on her – don't they have anything better to do? Each time she enters the Slytherin common room the students watch her suspiciously, often whispering about 'dirty muggle-lover' or 'filthy Potter follower' or something else equally offending. She never reacts, always pretends to not hear them, and continues on her way. Draco Malfoy did corner her, yesterday, in the morning, with a haughty look on his face – as usual. She still remembers the conversation with a smile.

"_Louhi, who are you? No one knows where you come from. And you befriended filthy Potter, that disgusting blood traitor and that ugly mudblood rather quickly. I want to know why," the boy stated._

_She was fuming, though it didn't show on the outside. Forcing herself to stay calm, she replied, "First of all, didn't your father ever teach you not to swear? I'm sure he wouldn't like to hear you talking about 'mudbloods' out in the open, now would he? And secondly, who I am and what I'm doing is none of your business."_

"_How dare you, you—"_

"_I suggest you do not finish that sentence, Malfoy," she lowered her voice to a whisper, unheard by the few other students in the room, "You wouldn't want word of your unacceptable behaviour to get back to the Dark Lord, would you?"_

_He paled immediately, "How—Why—You wouldn't," he sputtered, before getting back his haughty look, "I bet you haven't even met Him, how dare you speak of Him in this way."_

"_If that's what you think, it's your mistake, Malfoy, beware of it."_

That afternoon, when she had gone to Severus' office, she had spoken of her irritation with that boy. Severus had silently nodded, a pensive look on his face.

Among the last to get out of the classroom is Malfoy, accompanied by Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle. He does notice her, unlike the other Slytherins, and he once again pales. She smiles slightly, raising her eyebrows. Did he finally understand she wouldn't take his insults anymore? The boy quickly leaves the hallway. Odd. He does seem more fearful than she thought he would be after their conversation.

"Ms Louhi," Severus' baritone interrupts her thoughts, as the other three stop talking, "If you _don't mind_," standing in the doorway, he gestures towards the classroom, "I do not have all day." His tone is sharp, and Sasha suspects this past lesson didn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped – which is nothing new, really, considering this class consisted of Neville, Hermione, Harry and Ron, among other Gryffindors.

As Severus is still standing near them, the other three don't dare say anything, so they just nod to Sasha and quickly leave the dungeons. As soon as they're gone, Severus turns around and goes towards the door in the back of his classroom. She follows him, the two doors close behind them, and once more, as usual, they're seated in his office.

He's writing some things down, while she waits.

Finally, annoyed by his silence, she questions, "I suppose Longbottom couldn't complete his potion, once again?"

Severus doesn't look up.

"You know, if you're just going to sulk while I'm here waiting, I might as well just leave."

Only when she makes a move to get up, does he react, "No. Stay."

"You're going to talk to me?"

He glares at her, but she isn't intimidated. He finds it's weirdly refreshing to, for once, not have someone cower in fear before him.

"What do you want me to say? Hm? Those dunderheads have no idea what they're doing. Have you got any idea of how frustrating that can be, not to mention dangerous, with these volatile ingredients, after not having had a proper night's sleep for quite some time?"

"I do understand, in fact. But that was your last class before the holidays, you won't have to teach them or even see them until January."

"Except for the _golden trio_, of course," he sneers.

"You know they will avoid you as much as possible, when you'll come to headquarters. Besides, Mrs Weasley doesn't want them to attend order meetings, as you told me, so you definitely won't see them there."

"They'll still have to be there when Dumbledore tells everyone you're part of the Order."

She playfully narrows her eyes at him, "Do you always have to prove me wrong? And that's just one meeting."

The slightest glint in his eyes shows that, yes, he enjoys proving her wrong.

"Anyway, why did you want to see me today? I thought we'd gone over all the necessary facts and plans?"

"We have. I wished to see you to talk about the Dark Lord, something other than what I have already told you."

She nods. The playful, friendly atmosphere is now completely gone. They're strictly down to business.

He continues, "I was summoned, yesterday, to speak to him of you. He agreed to let you live, seeing a useful spy in you, so I suspect he'll soon want to see the both of us, to know for certain whether you're on his side."

"That is very probable, indeed. So I'll have to play the role of spy for him but actually be one for Dumbledore, like you?"

He nods, "You are aware of what you are supposed to say, how you are supposed to act?"

"Yes."

They go over their preparations once more, as they won't be seeing each other every day anymore, like it's been the last week.

"I also told him of Draco Malfoy," Severus tells her, suddenly. She's surprised, she thought the man liked that boy. She tells him as much, to which he answers, "I don't actually care for Draco, to be honest, he's too conceited and proud. I pretend to, however, to keep up my cover of favouritism for the Death Eaters' offspring."

She nods understandingly, "He must've gotten a letter from his father, then, I suppose, as he didn't say anything to me earlier, and looked even paler than usual."

"He has indeed. Lucius wasn't happy, neither was the Dark Lord, as you can imagine. He was rather amused by your performance, however, when he saw my memories of your rant."

She feels her face warm up slightly, "Well, I was really annoyed, I couldn't help it."

He smirks at her as she smiles at the memory of how she acted. It must've indeed been rather humorous, she knows, as she thinks back on it.

"You will have to return to the muggle school you previously went to and obliviate them; they are probably wondering where you have gone," he tells her.

Before being caught up in this world, Sasha went to a 'normal' high school, because she wanted to experience it, never having gone to one before. This subject had come up in one of the many conversations she had had with Severus over the last few days.

"I will, indeed, I thought about it already. I've planned to go at the beginning of next week, once I'm settled in at headquarters."

"Good. This is one of the days you have requested to leave Grimmauld Place?"

"Yes."

"You do know that you'll have to leave whatever it is you're doing to come with me if the Dark Lord calls, yes?"

"I do. Though I was wondering; how will I know when he calls, if you're not near to tell me?"

"When you're at headquarters, it won't be an issue, I'll know where to find you. If he calls whenever you have left Grimmauld Place, however, it will be a problem."

"So you'll have to come with me, I suppose?" Her face doesn't show it, but she's a bit worried about what he might find out about her, things no one else has ever known.

"I'm afraid so, yes."

She sighs, "Okay then. I'll let you know when I'll leave and where to meet me, as soon as I've fixed a date. Do you have any days that might not work for you?"

"No. Just let me know as soon as possible."

[To be continued]


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

The next morning the train leaves. Sasha shares a compartment with her three new friends, as well as Ron's younger sister Ginny, and Luna and Neville. They talk, laugh, play a few games and Hermione and Sasha read for a bit. She notices Harry is very calm and silent. He still looks tired, strained, as if he hasn't been sleeping well.

At King's Cross Station Mrs Weasley, a plump, motherly-looking woman with Ron's flaming red hair, awaits the five of them. After saying goodbye to Neville and Luna, they go through a brick pillar, to Sasha's surprise, and soon, after a short travel, arrive at headquarters; a magically hidden house in a calm neighbourhood. Grimmauld Place is old, dark and dusty. The atmosphere is rather heavy and sombre. Hermione shows her the room next to the one she and Ginny occupy, and tells Sasha that'll be her room during her stay in the house. Mrs Weasley fusses over them and immediately sets to making them an extensive lunch. Everyone is very nice to Sasha, but she knows they can't wait to find out why she has come to headquarters as well. She's just a new student after all, and a Slytherin at that, at least that's what they think for now.

Sasha finds out about the Weasley's patriarch's accident and meets the twin pranksters of the family, as well as Sirius Black, the owner of the house. The group talks for quite a long time after lunch, still sitting in the kitchen.

Soon enough the key members of the Order start to arrive, starting with Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. They join the conversation after being introduced to Sasha. Next to arrive is Severus. Without a word of greeting he seats himself to Sasha's right.

Sirius' reaction is immediate, "Snape, the poor girl's just left school, do you really need to annoy her by sitting right next to her?"

"Considering I, unsurprisingly, prefer her presence over yours, and this seat is as far from your dogly scent as possible, I should think it is quite obvious why I would sit here."

Sasha, not even trying to hide her amusement at Severus' retort, chuckles. Severus, in turn, smirks smugly, glancing at her. Most of the table is appalled at her behaviour and their interaction. She is at ease with Severus, she knows that, she rather enjoys his sharp wit, too. The others aren't aware of their understanding, of course, which explains their surprise. The two of them, over the past week, have become used to playfully bickering, after spending so much time together.

"What did he do to her, influence her with some sort of potion?" she hears Ron whispering, as per usual quite loudly for a whisper.

"Ronald!" his mother chastises him.

The conversation soon picks up again, and lasts until seemingly all of the Order members are in the room.

"Wait, so now we can be at an Order meeting? Not that I'm complaining," Harry wonders out loud, noticing how many Order members are present.

"Yes Harry, for once this concerns all of you as well," Dumbledore answers him, walking into the room. He goes to sit at the head of the table, to Severus' right.

"This isn't all of the Order," he first explains to Sasha, "Minerva McGonagall is at the school right now, as is Hagrid. There's also Charlie Weasley, who's in Romania at the moment, and Bill Weasley is at work at Gringotts. There are others too, in the ministry, for instance, though they don't often sit in on a meeting like this one, as Severus may have explained to you already?"

She nods.

"Good. Now, as you all certainly have noticed, we have a new person in our midst. She'll be part of the Order, from now on."

"See? I told you she couldn't be trusted! I knew she was hiding something!"

"Ronald, that's quite enough!"

"So she'll be allowed to work for the order?" Harry asks.

"Obviously," Severus drawls.

"But she isn't even of age! And we can't even assist to the meetings, let alone actually help," Harry then objects.

Sasha briefly looks at Dumbledore, silently asking for permission to add to the discussion. He nods. "As a matter of fact I am of age."

"Then why are you in fifth year?" His tone is quite aggressive and it's the most he's said to her since she has arrived.

"Potter, _kindly_ refrain from commenting on things you do not understand and let her continue."

"Thank you, Severus," Sasha answers. He lightly slaps her leg, under the table, making her notice her slip of the tongue, "Professor Snape, I mean. Sorry."

While, again, many look surprised, Dumbledore simply asks her to continue.

"Professor Dumbledore put me in fifth year because my parents didn't follow Hogwarts' curriculum while I was home-schooled, so I didn't learn some things yet."

"Are there any questions?" Dumbledore then asks.

"No offence, love," Sirius tells her, before turning to Dumbledore, "but how do we know we can trust her?"

Sasha just smiles tightly, Severus narrows his eyes at the man.

"Severus and I both have enough proof. We wouldn't have brought her here, otherwise."

"But maybe she misled you, she's a _Slytherin_, after all," Ron speaks up. Sasha knew he didn't trust her from the start, and it doesn't looks like that'll change soon, especially after this revelation. She feels Severus tensing, next to her; he's annoyed by the boy.

"Mister Weasley, do you honestly think we would have brought her _here_, of all places, if we weren't sure about her?" He nearly spits the words out, though he doesn't raise his voice.

She puts her hand on his arm and squeezes once, hoping to calm him down. It seems to help, a bit at least, as he reclines in his chair once more.

"Anyone else?"

When no one answers, the headmaster nods once, "Good. If any of you think of something else, don't hesitate to ask about it. Trust and truth are important in this. Now, before we continue this meeting, those underage will have to leave the room."

The boys immediately begin to argue while Hermione and Ginny silently slip out of the kitchen, as they know they won't be allowed to stay either way. Mrs Weasley also prohibits the twins from staying, saying they still are too young, the two of them also wisely leave, pulling Ron with them. Now, only Harry is left.

Severus leans towards Sasha and tells her, in a silent tone, how the boy tries to argue each and every time. "Not only that," he adds, "but his godfather and guardian, Black, never tells him to stay away."

"Black is his guardian? Oh dear…"

"Indeed," he smirks.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Well, that explains the dog animagus," Sasha mumbles, alluding to the way Sirius nearly barks at Severus. The latter, having heard her, smirks wider.

"Nothing of importance, Black," the professor answers him, "I was just telling her about you being Harry's guardian. Her answer, 'oh dear', says it all, don't you think?"

"Professor, don't repeat my words!" Sasha chastises him lightly, smiling.

"Why, you little…" Sirius starts, but Dumbledore interrupts them, "Enough." His tone is hard and serious – intimidating. Sasha hasn't heard it before.

"And Harry," Dumbledore continues, "Please join your friends."

He opens his mouth to react, but Dumbledore is quicker, "Now, Harry," his firm tone shows that he's very serious indeed and he won't change his mind.

Very annoyed at his dismissal, the boy leaves the room.

Dumbledore moves his wand in a few ways before putting it back in his sleeve. Sasha raises her eyebrows. Severus simply says, "Silencing spell."

She nods understandingly.

"Now that that is taken care of, we shall explain the actual circumstances of Ms Louhi's presence."

His statement is met with many curious looks around the table.

He continues, "Severus, will you please explain what you told me happened at Voldemort's latest meeting?"

The spy tells the same story once more, leaving out the part of her different powers, as well as her age. Almost all members of the order simply have a look of pity on their face. Mrs Weasley, though, immediately cries out, "You poor child! You shouldn't be mixed in this business, especially being so young!" She then turns to Dumbledore, "Albus, you can't possibly ask of her to help us, she's far too young for all of this," she tells the older wizard.

Sasha is a bit shocked by the woman's behaviour, to say the least. She ignores her pity and answers, "I'm not that young, actually."

"Of course you are, child! You may be of age, being seventeen, but you're still far too young!"

"I'm older than you, actually."

"That's— wait, what?"

Severus snorts, amused by Mrs Weasley's disbelief. Sasha also has to supress a chuckle.

"As I was saying," she continues, "I am older than I appear to be. I was born in October of the year 1695, to be exact."

"How is that possible?" Shacklebolt wonders out loud.

"I'm descended from a Finnish witch, whose name was Louhi. She appears in the mythology of the non-magical world – or muggle world, as you say. She could do wandless and wordless magic and she was a shape-shifter as well. Over the generations, the shape-shifting abilities have disappeared, for as far as I know, sadly. Our family's magic allows for us to look any age we want. If we maintain a relatively young age for decades, we can keep living, as our body doesn't die.

"Your last name is Louhi, isn't it?" Sirius asks.

"Exactly."

"So you're the descendant of that witch?" Remus asks.

She nods.

"Too bad about the shape-shifting, though," Tonks winks.

"Yes, that's true, but it wasn't like your kind of shifting, it was more like an animagus?" She looks to Severus for confirmation if that's the right term. He nods. "Though she could shift into more animals than one," she continues.

"So you are immortal?" Alastor Moody asks next.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Nobody has ever tried to live as long as I have. All of the members of the Louhi-line have simply lived until their bodies died – for as far as I know, anyway."

"Why didn't you?" Moody questions.

"I have to avenge my parents."

Nobody asks for any details, and Sasha appreciates it. She has never before put her trust in this many people, she couldn't bear to actually have to explain every detail of her existence – including the fact that she knows of two other members of the Louhi-line who are alive still, though for different reasons than her own. Since their survival isn't relevant, she doesn't think it important enough to mention.

After a few tense seconds, Tonks breaks the silence, "So you can change your appearance, right now, to appear older than you do now?"

"I can. Would you like for me to prove it?"

Tonks nods enthusiastically and Moody observes her, slowly nodding as well. He's suspicious of her, that much is obvious. The others all have curious expressions on their faces.

She closes her eyes and concentrates. She needs quite some power to do this, which is why she doesn't, usually, but if it's to prove she's with them, she'll do it. When she hears a few gasps, she knows she has succeeded.

She appears to be in her late thirties now, about fifteen or twenty years older than a few seconds ago.

"Well, that certainly proves she speaks the truth," Severus states. She smiles at him and then looks at the others. Her smile is strained and she's happy she's seated; due to the amount of magic she needed, her blood pressure lowered dramatically and she sees black spots dancing before her eyes. She hides the way she is feeling and asks, "I guess you all believe me now, yes?"

All of them nod. Tonks asks the next question, "And now you can simply turn back?"

"I will need some time, first, since it takes a lot of power and I'm rather tired now. But yes, in a while I'll be able to turn back."

The actual meeting begins. Sasha is mostly listening, absorbing all of the information. They talk about possible future moves of the Death Eaters, about ministry officials who might be undercover Death Eaters and about the recent muggle attacks.

"Okay, so Lucius is a high standing ministry official _and_ an important Death Eater?" Sasha asks after a while. When she receives a few nods, she continues, "How does the Minister not see that, especially since Lucius was also majorly involved in the last war?"

Remus answers her question, "He pretended to have been under the influence of the Imperius Curse, after the first war."

"Yes, that, and the fact that the Malfoy family is an old, influential one and their fortune and possessions are quite extensive, does help," Sirius adds.

"Typical," she sighs.

Professor McGonagall speaks up next, "Have the both of you already decided how you will act at the next meeting with You-Know-Who?"

"We have, now we only have to wait for his 'call'," Sasha answers. Severus nods at her response.

"So we'll have two spies then," Kingsley Shacklebolt states.

Finally, after some more discussion, Dumbledore asks, "That's all of the most recent news?"

Everyone nods.

"Good. Until the next meeting, then. Happy holidays to all of you."

A few mumbled answers wish the headmaster the same. Albus leaves the room, after cancelling his silencing spells, soon followed by most of the other Order members, who are needed elsewhere.

When Severus stands up, once everyone but Sirius and the two of them has left, he grabs Sasha's arm and pulls her along to the corner of the room, near the door. Sirius watches them suspiciously, they notice. The man's suspicion worsens when Severus casts a strong silencing spell around them.

"Have you decided on the dates for your 'outings' yet?"

"I have, indeed. If it's fine with you, I'd like to go to the school this coming Wednesday. For the other outing, as you call them, I'd like to go on Friday and Saturday, in the same week. The second week of the Holidays will be calmer, this way, having nowhere to be."

"Both Friday and Saturday?"

"Yes, I have a bit of travelling to do and since it takes time to go from one place to another, we'll need two days. Unless you can travel long, international distances by apparition?"

"Sadly, we can't. We normally use Portkeys, but these need to be allowed by the ministry, which takes time, especially during the Winter Holidays."

"Okay, so like I thought, we'll travel by muggle means."

Severus nods, "I think that is agreeable, indeed. At what time shall I pick you up?"

"At two o'clock would work for me on Wednesday, we'll then see when to depart on Friday, as I still have to book our tickets... And, before you leave, was the silencing spell really necessary?"

"No, I suppose not, considering they'll find out soon enough you'll be leaving for a few days, but I rather enjoy riling Black up," he smirks darkly.

She shakes her head semi-disapprovingly, though she is smiling slightly.

"I'll be here at two, coming Wednesday, then. Ah, and before I forget," he quickly moves his wand over her form. She feels a rippling of the air around her. It ends as soon as it began.

"What was that?"

"A glamour. Those dunderheads will wonder who you are, if you are to walk into a room looking about my age. It should stay on until you have regained your powers to return to your younger self."

"Oh, thank you. I'll see you then, Severus."

He simply nods and ends the silencing spell. He soon leaves the house.

Sasha returns to the table and summons a glass of water. Sirius hasn't moved and he's still watching her.

"What are you doing?" he inquires.

"What do you mean?"

"With Snape. What's going on? I thought you were his student?"

"I will be, when school starts again. Why does it matter?"

He frowns, "I just thinks your interaction is rather strange. You act almost as friends…"

"We are supposed to work well together, since we're both spies in the Dark Lord's camp. This arrangement wouldn't last long if we couldn't at least interact civilly. Not to mention the fact that our lives depend on how well the Dark Lord believes our act."

"I suppose you're right… Just be careful. One never knows whose side he's really on."

She smiles tightly – he seems to imply that also applies to her –, but doesn't answer to his doubts.

"I'm going back to Hermione and the others, if you don't mind. They must be wondering why I'm staying away this long."

"Yes, that's a good idea. I'll see you later."

[To be continued]


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

She finds Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron in the sitting room. The four of them are talking over a game of wizard's chess between Harry and Ron. Hermione sits opposite of Ginny with her back to the door. Ginny immediately stops telling them her opinion about whatever the group is talking about when she notices Sasha in the door opening. The other three look up when the girl doesn't continue her statement. They see her frowning in the direction of the door and turn around, noticing Sasha as well.

"Hi," Hermione disrupts the sudden silence.

"Hi. You may continue your conversation, you know," she answers as she moves closer.

"We were just finished," Ginny explains quickly.

"It seemed quite a rough ending to a conversation, if you ask me," Sasha replies.

"Well, we didn't ask you, did we?" Ron reacts sharply.

Sasha raises her eyebrows. She knew they might be suspicious of her, but Ron is just plain hostile. "I know you are suspicious, but at least let me explain. Ask me questions, and I'll answer them as truthfully as possible."

"Ha! 'As truthfully as possible'? Right."

"Ron," Hermione speaks up, "At least give her a chance."

"I agree with Hermione," Harry says, "Why don't you sit down with us, Sasha?" He moves to the side, so she can sit down between him and Hermione. The two redheads watch her with narrowed eyes.

"So, ask," Sasha invites them.

Ron begins, "Why do you agree with absolutely everything Snape says?"

"I don't agree with everything."

"Based on what we saw and heard, earlier, you do," Ron insists.

"Yes, earlier I did, perhaps, but I don't always."

Ron opens his mouth to reply but Hermione interrupts him, "Okay, maybe you don't always, but this is the first time we saw you interact this way with him. It's weird, to say the least. Not to mention, you laugh at each of his remarks, including when he insults Sirius."

"He's got good humour."

"No, he doesn't. He snarky, condescending and cruel."

"Ronald! He's still our teacher! Do have some respect," Hermione reprimands him. He doesn't answer, but the sheepish look on his face says it all. Sasha thinks it's rather cute how the two of them are constantly bickering.

"Besides," Sasha continues, "I know Severus better than I do Black, and Black insulted him first, so…"

"'Severus'? 'Black'?" Harry repeats.

"Professor Snape, I mean." Gods, she really needs to watch her tongue. That's the second time she's slipped up today. "And yes, 'Black', 'Sirius', it's the same, isn't it?" The look on Harry's face says it isn't.

"You even sound like him. Like Snape…"

She doesn't reply to that.

"Talking about names, you called him by his first name at the meeting, as well," Ginny comments.

"Yes, well, it's his name, isn't it? Besides, it was a slip of the tongue."

"He didn't even reprimand you."

"Actually—," she quickly stops talking. She nearly told them about the slap on the leg. Undoubtedly, they'd find that even worse than the things they're talking about now. Better not to let them know about that.

"Actually what?"

"Nothing, never mind."

"Are you sure you aren't under the influence of some kind of potion?" Ron questions once more.

"No, I'm not. You really don't trust me, do you?"

"Are you surprised? You are a new student who starts school in the middle of the year, and a Slytherin at that. You're friends with Snape and, on top of that, your background story is shady at best. Finally, you're a part of the Order nearly the exact moment you arrive!" he sums up.

Hermione speaks up again, "Well, I do trust her. Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let her come here, if he wasn't sure we can trust her, would he?" she explains to the group.

"I trust you too, for now" Harry agrees cautiously, nodding at her.

"If the both of them trust you, I do too," Ginny adds.

"Thank you," Sasha smiles.

"You're all mad, the lot of you," Ron exclaims. He gets up and leaves the room. They soon hear him loudly mounting the stairs.

If he reacts like this already, I wonder what he'll do when he finds out I'm leaving with Severus for a few days, Sasha thinks to herself.

The next day Sasha has the most fun she's had in a long time. She talks a lot with the girls – Ginny and Hermione – and sometimes Harry joins them. He doesn't quite know what to do about Ron, so he divides his time between the girls and the angry boy, though he isn't great company, if she's being honest; he's mostly silent and easily snaps. Ron has cooled down some since that first evening, but he still refuses to really talk to Sasha. She thought _she_ was stubborn, well, Ron's apparently even worse. Though she can't really blame him. He does have a point. On the other hand, everybody trusts her, including Dumbledore and the other adults. She supposes he'll come around, eventually. He's a nice guy, after all.

She also 'meets' Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, and Buckbeak, the Hippogriff. And the portrait of Black's mother as well, sadly… The woman started screaming with a sharp voice, right when Sasha passed her portrait, as Ron laughed loudly along with Hermione. Apparently Mrs Black doesn't like 'traitors and mudbloods' in her house.

The twins, Fred and George Weasley, enjoy their pranks all day, every day. It's amusing to watch, really, unless it's you they have planned something for. Their inventions are amazing and really creative. They tell her about the different kinds of candies they've developed, for instance, to evade class whenever one wants to. The boxed 'sweets', the 'Skiving Snackbox', as they call it, is wildly popular at Hogwarts. They also show her the extendable ears. She's pretty sure Dumbledore has found out about those, as he put up some strong silencing charms on Saturday.

That same evening it's Christmas' Eve, and she joins the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Sirius around the dinner table. Mrs Weasley's cooking is really good, as is the company.

The next morning Sasha gets up quite early. When she arrives in the kitchen, everyone is already seated. She moves to sit next to Hermione, right when Mrs Weasley comes in, supporting a bandaged, bloodied man: Arthur Weasley, the Weasley's patriarch. They're introduced to each other. The man is, like the rest of his family, very nice and, unlike Ron, accepting of her.

Mrs Weasley gives them all knitted winter wear. The twins get a scarf each, Ron and Hermione get a pullover and Harry gets a bonnet.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I honestly didn't know you'd come here until the day beforehand. And since then I haven't had any time to make you something. Otherwise you'd have gotten something as well," Mrs Weasley looks kind of distraught, so Sasha appeases her, "Don't worry, Mrs Weasley, I really don't mind."

"Well, next year I'll make you something!" She vows, smiling brightly. Sasha smiles back. The woman is incredibly nice to her. She is reminded of her own mother, whom she lost at a young age. She's happy for these teens, to have a mother like Mrs Weasley, as well as a father like Arthur. Harry, she notices, is treated like another son by the Weasleys. At least this way he knows the love that is family, despite having never known his own parents. The boy deserves it.

They eat a typically English breakfast: bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, tomatoes, toast, and coffee or tea. Afterwards, the teens go to the living room to play some games, while the adults stay in the kitchen.

Hermione leaves the room for a short while, along with Ron and Harry, Ginny and Sasha remain in the living room, playing a game of Wizard's Chess. When they come back, she asks where they went.

"Hermione wanted to give a present to Kreacher," Harry answers, "But we couldn't find him, so she left the gift next to his cupboard."

"Kreacher?"

"Yes, the house elf. He hasn't been around, though, I wonder where he's gone…"

"Hermione, seriously, why worry about a house elf, and an evil one at that!" Ron replies to her.

"He's still a living creature, Ron, and you know how I feel about house elves!"

Everybody in their little group stays silent, wisely. Sasha, too, has found out about Hermione's ideas and S.P.E.W., in the course of the last week. She doesn't tell her, but she silently agrees with the others: if those little creatures _want _to work for wizards, why deny them their pleasure?

"Anyway, let's continue," Ginny breaks the uneasy silence, before giving an order to her chess pieces.

[To be continued]


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

On Tuesday she still hasn't told them she'll be leaving for some hours on three days. She enjoys this new lifestyle and she doesn't want to ruin the mood – especially with a suspicious Ron spying on her all the time. After all, for the first time in centuries, she doesn't have to worry about anything. Not checking each and every corner she passes, not having to look over her shoulder all the time, no restless nights,… It's refreshing, to say the least. She has a feeling she'll never get used to this, as she's been on the run for so long. But for now, she forces herself to relax – at least for a few days. She knows reality will hit her hard when she needs to return to it. For these few hours, however, these few days, she enjoys each moment she spends with her new friends.

The next day at noon she finally announces she's going away for the afternoon.

"But you only just got here," Mrs Weasley protests.

"Yes, I know, but I'm not leaving for long. I'll be back in the late afternoon or evening."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asks the question everybody is wondering about.

"The exact place doesn't matter," she answers, "I just have some personal business to attend to."

"Surely you don't have to do that during the holidays?" Ron asks. He's been talking to her again since yesterday, albeit rather coldly. And he's still suspiciously watching her every move.

"When should I do it, then? When school starts again? Because I'm quite sure I won't be allowed to leave Hogwarts."

"Are you sure you aren't leaving to meet up with some Death Eaters?"

"Ronald!" Mrs Weasley hisses.  
>She <em>knew<em> he would take this news badly, "Seriously? Are you still going on about that? If you really want to know, I'm leaving because I have to do a few things concerning my parents' affairs, as they're _dead_, if you hadn't noticed. I'm an only child, and there isn't any other family I have that I know about. So I'm the one who has to take care of it."

The room is dead-silent after she has finished. She knows she was a bit harsh, but his behaviour has gotten truly annoying and she is sick of it. Though today she won't actually go on business concerning her parents, she will on Friday.

"I'm going to the library. Anyone cares to join me?" She then asks, getting up from her chair.

Hermione follows her, while Harry seems to hesitate and Ron angrily remains seated. Ginny stays at the table too, with a look to the two boys.

Sasha stops at the door, "Ron, I genuinely think you are a nice guy, so please, stop being this suspicious and join us. I'd love to have another friend. I never really had any friends, after all, as I was home-schooled."

He doesn't look up, but he does seem ashamed of himself. She hopes he'll finally come to grips with the fact that she doesn't mean any of them any harm.

In the library Hermione joins her on a couch with a book. Soon, Harry and Ginny enter the room as well and occupy the other couch together. They talk silently among themselves.

After a while the door opens. A sheepish Ron is standing in the opening, hesitantly looking at them.

"Hi, guys."

"Hello, Ron," Sasha greets him, "Why don't you join us?"

He smiles slightly, nodding. The boy closes the door behind him and takes a seat in an armchair. He takes a deep breath, "So… Have you guys heard about Fred and George's latest invention?"

And just like that, their group is complete again. Sasha is happy. Despite her lies about her actual 'backstory', as Ron once referred to it, to them, she did mean what she said earlier. The last friend she had, was a girl who lived in her village, almost three hundred years ago.

At exactly two o'clock the door to the room they reside in opens harshly. Severus is standing exactly where Ron stood, a bit over an hour ago. The look on his face, however, is completely different from the one the redhead was sporting. He's wearing black pants, his black dragon-hide boots, a black shirt and a black jacket, in order to blend in when they'll be in a muggle area.

"Ms Louhi," he speaks, "I hope you did not forget about our _appointment_."

"I didn't, actually, I just lost track of time," she smiles to him, while she puts down her book on potions and gets up.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Mr Weasley, may I suggest you heed your mother's warning and show some more respect to you elders?"

Sasha honestly tries to suppress it, but she can't help the smile on her face.

Ron catches it, unfortunately, "See! She's laughing at his remarks again!" the boy exclaims.

In a bored tone Severus asks Sasha, "Shall we go?"

She nods.

"Wait a minute, he's coming with you? Why?"

"Ron, this really isn't the moment—"

"No, Hermione, this just proves my point. She's meeting up with—" He stops talking when he sees Severus' warning glare. Hermione, too, narrows her eyes at him.

"I'll be back soon. Do try not to kill the boy, Hermione. See you all later."

Once outside they walk to the small park near the house. The ground is covered in a thin layer of snow and the air smells like the cold, pure and fresh. Concealed by the trees, they needn't fear curious muggles.

"We will have to apparate, but I do not know where to go. Would you mind me looking at your memory to see the destination?"

"Apparating is indeed better, as it's quicker. It's okay, you may. Is it easier if I focus on the place I want to go to?"

"Indeed."

She concentrates for a second. Imagining the place she needs to be. She sees the simple house with its small front yard before her mind's eye.

"Ready?" She nods. "_Legilimens!_"

Once more he's in her mind. The feeling is as strange as the last time, though now she knows what to expect – it's less uncomfortable, at least. She shields her other ideas and memories and just focuses on the one they need. He looks around inside the memory for a bit, searching for a safe place to apparate, somewhere they won't have anyone to obliviate. She sees what he sees; he mentally walks down the street, examining the area. He soon finds an adequate spot and leaves her mind.

This time they don't stumble – lucky for her, as there isn't a chair to catch her, here – since this memory, isn't deeply influenced by emotions, unlike the last one Severus viewed.

Without another word he offers her his black-clad arm. Not quite happy with the nauseating experience she'll go through once more, she grabs it. She soon feels the choking sensation, but as soon as it started it's over and they're standing in the tiniest, shadowy alleyway.

"I much prefer muggle transportation, no offence."

"None taken. Come, this way."

"Wait, before we go: You should know I'm called Sasha Wilson, around here, in case it comes up."

They leave the alleyway, making sure no-one's around to see them come out of there. In the street, Sasha takes the lead. They continue down the road and turn into the next street. Soon enough they're standing in front of a simple one-family home. The small garden is well-kept.

Sasha rings the doorbell. Severus stays behind her, subtly watching the street. Everything is calm at this hour. A small, middle-aged woman with short brown hair cut in a bob opens the door. Her smile upon seeing Sasha disappears when she spots the dark man behind her.

"Hello Sasha and…?"

"Hello Ann, this is Severus. May we come in?"

"Yes, sure."

Her house is decorated simply but tastefully. The main colours are brown, beige and white. It isn't very big, but it isn't stuffy at all, it's rather cosy. They sit down in the living room. The floor is one big plush carpet in a light brown. The walls are covered in broken-white wallpaper. A closet is pushed against the far wall. To the left of the door there's a fireplace.

Ann claims the armchair, the visitors lower themselves into the two-seat couch. Between the couch and the armchair a coffee table is placed.

"I haven't seen you in quite some time, Sasha, how are you?"

"I'm fine. Is your daughter home?"

"No, she's gone out with friends. I actually thought you went with them."

"I was sick, this last week," she explains, "so I didn't even know about their outing."

"Oh, are you well now, then, dear? What was it, the flu?"

Severus snorts at the woman's worried tone. It makes her look up, "Severus, was it? Who are you, exactly?"

"I'm a friend of Ms Wilson."

"Ms Wilson? You call your friends by their last names?"

"I apologize," he responds gruffly, "Sasha."

Sasha smirks at him, she's not heard him apologize before. He dares her to speak, raising an eyebrow.

"Hm," the middle-aged woman eyes him strangely, "So," she then continues, "why are you here? Do you want to wait for Danni? Oh, you might want her notes, no?"

Severus looks thoroughly annoyed by all of the questions.

"No, those are not the reasons."

"But—"

Gods, she forgot how much this woman talks.

"No. Mrs Johnson," Sasha moves to the edge of her seat, she focuses her eyes on the unsuspecting woman, "Look at me," she looks up, "That's it… Straight in the eyes…" She's talking slowly, articulately. Once Ann is caught by her stare, she doesn't move anymore.

Sasha moves both her hands to above her knees, palms to Mrs Johnson.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"Yes." Her voice is an eerie monotone.

"Do you know what to do?"

"Yes."

"_Ne kaiken._"

Ann's eyes close suddenly.

Sasha gets up, "Come on, we should go before she awakes."

He doesn't question her yet.

They return to the alley in silence. She walks before him into the shadowy place. Severus grips her arm and turns her around.

"Explain," he orders, wanting to know what she did, what just happened.

She raises her eyebrows at his harsh tone, but tells him anyway, "When I arrived in this town, I linked the minds of each person I met to the next. This way, whenever I want, I can make them forget about me."

"Like obliviate, but on a mass scale?"

"Indeed."

"What language was that? It wasn't Latin."

"It was Finnish. My mother tongue. It's also our family's magical language. Sometimes, depending on the spell, we use Sumerian instead, thanks to an ancestor of mine. She researched old Magic and found out about the Sumerian people. She taught her findings to her offspring. Since then, we use magic from both cultures. Usually I don't need to speak the spell aloud, but with some rather powerful spells, like the one I just did, it is necessary to be certain it works."

He nods understandingly.

"Now we should go and book our tickets for Friday. Do you know where to go?"

"I do," he replies.

The two of them disapparate to London and find a traveling agency, where everything is readied for Friday and Saturday.

They disapparate again, afterwards, and are soon back in the small park near Grimmauld Place. In silence, no doubt still pondering the newly acquired information about her magic, he escorts her back to the house. They go inside. Sasha is about to say goodbye, so Severus can leave, when Molly comes into the hall from the kitchen. The woman instantly notices them and exclaims, "Oh! You're back already! Come on in, both of you, get warm again. It's freezing outside. I was just going to call the kids down for tea. And no, Severus, I don't want to hear it. You're staying for tea. End of story," she adds good-naturedly when she sees he opens his mouth to protest. Molly goes up the stairs and disappears. Meanwhile Sasha, smiling because of the interaction between Molly and her new friend, and Severus enter the kitchen and take their usual seats.

"What was it you said on Friday," he starts, "about not having to see the dunderheads?" He raises an eyebrow questioningly. His face appears serious, but she notices a spark of amusement in his dark eyes anyway.

"Well, yes, I couldn't exactly predict this, could I?"

"Hm," he grumbles, "Sadly. I'd deposited you outside at the door, had I known."

"And left me?" She pretends to be offended.

He smirks.

"See? They're at it again!"

Sasha rolls her eyes, immediately knowing who said it. "Still haven't matured, I see?" she responds as the others enter the room as well.

All of the 'kids', as Molly called them, are there, except the twins. They're probably working on another invention, in their room. Molly waves her wand towards the kettle. The hot object is carefully levitated, it serves everyone and returns to its place. A few plates appear in the middle of the old, wooden table with milk, sugar, scones, clotted cream and jam. Ronald grabs some food right away. He doesn't say anything more, ignoring them while he eats. Severus does answer to her question, though,

"Obviously," he drawls.

That gets the redhead's attention, "Oi!" he exclaims, his mouth full of cream.

"Ronald. Don't talk with your mouth full. I raised you better than this."

He doesn't dare react to his mother's reprimand, so he just sits quietly and continues munching on his scones.

[To be continued]


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

On Thursday night, at the dinner table, she tells her new friends she'll be gone for the next two days. As she expected, Mrs Weasley immediately asks her whether it's truly necessary.

"You know how dangerous it is out there, these days," the concerned woman pleads.

"I do know, Mrs Weasley, but yes, it is necessary. I'll be back before you know it."

This time, probably still thinking about her outburst on Wednesday, no one asks where she's going.

"When do you leave?" Hermione asks.

"Tomorrow morning around six," she replies, "And I'll return Saturday evening, normally speaking."

Harry is oddly quiet, as usual, and Ronald no longer bothers to comment – it's an improvement from the constant wariness and occasional insults, she supposes.

Saturday morning Mrs Weasley has apparently gotten up early, "So I'm sure you eat your breakfast before leaving!"

"That's really nice, Mrs Weasley, but-"

"No 'but's! You will eat your breakfast and that's that!" The woman reacts while bustling around the kitchen. She has prepared their usual English breakfast, along with some coffee and tea. "Besides," she continues, "I'll just put it under a stasis charm for the others when they get up in a few hours."  
>Sasha commences her meal, though she's not really hungry, so as to not disappoint the kind mother.<p>

"Oh, Severus," Molly suddenly exclaims, "Come, sit down, have some tea, at least."

Sasha looks up and smiles to the dark man, "Good morning," she greets, "I'll be ready in a few."

He nods and sits down at the other side of the table, in front of her, "I'll have some tea then, Molly. Thank you."

He seems preoccupied with something, Sasha notices, she decides she'll ask him later, when they're alone.

They leave a worried-looking Mrs Weasley at the door of number twelve and once again go to the small park. As they are walking she finally asks, "What has got you looking so preoccupied?"

"Nothing keeps me preoccupied," he curtly answers.

She persists anyway, "I'm not too sure about that."

He glances her with his trademark raised eyebrow, "If you must know, I'm wondering why it is taking the Dark Lord so long to summon us."

"I was wondering about that too," she agrees, "But let's not worry about it for now and head to Saint-Pancreas, shall we?"

He nods and extends his arm.

Their first trip is to Avignon, in France. They don't have any luggage, so they are out of the railway station quickly, as they can easily slip between the masses. As they walk, Sasha tells him, "The house we are going to is in walking distance, so there's no need to apparate this time."

He simply nods.

The streets of the city are relatively empty, because of the cold weather. Severus follows her to a villa in the historic centre of the town. It's a white villa, with shutters as well as the door painted in a light blue. A small gate guards the property, along with strong wards, Severus feels, as they enter its grounds.

The interior is a combination of modern and classic decoration. White stone stairs without railing lead up to the second floor.

"Ah, feels nice to be home," she smiles.

"It's a nice house," he nods.

"So, you want to drink something?" she asks. They already ate in the train, and it's now about three in the afternoon.

"You have anything fresh here after not having come for a while?" the man wonders, looking around and examining her possessions. On the fireplace mantle a few small animals carved from stone are standing. He watches closely as they come to life and start to play with and run around each other. He smirks as they seem to try and attract him closer.

"I do, I use a kind of conserving spell, a bit of like your stasis charm."

"I'd like a glass of water, please."

She smiles, shaking her head, amused, wondering why he asked about conservation of fresh things if he planned on just asking for water.

After finishing their drinks, she goes around the house to check on her wards and reinforce them. Once she's finished, they soon find a secluded spot and apparate to Nice, in a spot which she remembers from earlier visits is very calm, hidden and empty. From there they walk to the airport to catch their flight at half pas four.

In Saint-Petersburg they quickly leave the airport and find a secluded spot to apparate – which isn't too hard, considering it's ten o'clock at night and therefore dark.

Severus walks next to her as they cross the dark, snow-covered street to a wooden front door. The door is in the inner corner of three buildings arranged as a letter 'U'. It leads to a hall, painted in an odd hue of green, which contains a grand staircase with white pillars at the top of it.

Sasha's apartment consists of nine rooms in total and is located on the fourth floor. All of the rooms are decorated in traditional, Russian style, with dark wooden furniture combined with other earthy tints and white, intricately decorated doorposts.

She observes him as he watches her rooms, "Yes, I know it's a bit _much_, but I rather like it."

"I didn't say anything. I think this apartment is beautiful," he replies honestly.

"Thank you," she smiles.

"So tell me," he then asks, "Where are we going after you have secured this property?"

"Today? Nowhere," he raises his eyebrow and she explains, "We are staying here, tonight, as it's quite late. Tomorrow at one in the afternoon we'll take another airplane to Finland."

"Tomorrow at one," he repeats, "isn't there a flight in the morning?"

"No, unfortunately there aren't any. On the brighter side, we'll be able to sleep a bit longer than usual, which I'm sure we'll need after all of these travels. Besides, I'm knackered after performing this many wards."

"That doesn't surprise me," he comments, "I felt how strong they were."

"Why, thank you. Is that a compliment?" she smiles, knowing he doesn't give those out freely.

"Perhaps," he replies smirking playfully.

"There are two bedrooms, and I think I know which one you'll prefer."

"Is that so?"

"Well, considering one is in a subdued earthy colour scheme and the other has bright red walls…" she explains, "here's the door to the room with the simpler colour scheme," she shows him "I'm going to bed. I'm dead-tired. Good night, Severus. Oh, and there's a bathroom to your right when exiting your room, right here," she indicates the door, "Take whatever you need from the cupboards; it's the guest bathroom."

He nods in understanding, "Thank you. Good night, Ms Louhi."

As she had suspected, she sleeps late. It's past nine when she opens her eyes. Smelling the delicious odour of eggs and bacon, she quickly washes and dresses and heads to her kitchen. Severus is piling food on two plates as she enters.

"Good morning."

The man looks up "Morning. Slept well?"

"Yes, I feel much better."

They sit at the table and begin to eat, "This is really good, thank you for making it."

"Thank you. Don't worry about it; cooking is almost like making potions, to me."

"And you do love making potions, hm?"

He simply hums affirmatively in response.

They arrive in Inari, a village in northern Finland, at a quarter to two in the afternoon, after apparating there from Helsinki. Despite the hour, there's no sun, everything is dark. This is a part of the world where the sun remains below the horizon for many days during the winter months.

"You own a house here?" Her companion wonders. This village is indeed entirely different from the other two locations they visited.

"No. I am visiting my parents."

He understands she's talking about their grave and doesn't reply.

There are vacant lots, right outside the village, rather far away from the nearest house. The ground is covered in an ankle-high layer of snow. The wind has picked up and it blows sharply cold air around them. It must be at least minus ten degrees Celsius. At a point Sasha stops walking, and so does Severus. The ball of purplish light she has conjured bobs in the air before them. It looks exactly like the rest of the area, but Severus feels some sort of buzzing in the air, like the buzzing energy of magic.

Indeed, after she has checked around them to see there's no one looking, she dismantles the wards that hide her parent's grave. A rectangle of air seems to shimmer, these 'walls' then appear to melt, as they uncover the hidden marble. It's a simple grave, no more than a flat, marble, rectangular surface, upon which is inscribed what must be her parent's names, but he can't decipher the letters. About a meter all around the grave is now also free of snow and merely brown, frozen ground. Around this, the snow seems to be piled up against an invisible wall.

Sasha falls to her knees and lays her hand on the cold marble, barely aware of Severus' dark presence behind her. She closes her eyes, lowers her head and reminds herself of the moments she experienced with her parents, as she does each year. Her thoughts are disrupted when she hears a familiar, uninvited voice.

"Well, well, well," the woman speaks. She is standing at the head of the grave, her hands hidden in her pockets, her face overtaken by a cruel smile. "Finally we meet again."

"Ms Louhi?" Severus asks, not knowing who this woman is, but sensing she is strong.

Her English bears a distinct accent, "Ah, you brought a friend? I didn't know a bastard child such as yourself was capable of friendship. Or, no, don't tell me you got yourself a little slave? After all, who would willingly remain in your presence."

"Severus," Sasha finally speaks, without looking away from the deceptively young woman in front of her, "Meet the enemy I spoke of: My grandmother."

"Hello," she then greets her last remaining family member, "have you come to torment me again? Or perhaps successfully kill me, this time?"

"You little—No. I will not lose my time by arguing with you."

Her hands sweep quickly through the air, generating magical energy. A red stream of energy is soon followed by a purple one.

Both attempts fail as Sasha slaps away the streams of power coming her way. The streams crash into the snow at their sides.

"Not above my parents' grave!" Sasha cries out, before moving to the side, into the snow. The woman follows her.

Sasha throws an ugly green stream to the angry woman. Her attempt fails as well, as her grandmother appears to absorb the power. Severus is disturbed when the woman begins to laugh out wildly, "Oh darling! You have become weaker!"

Her words are immediately followed by a shiny black curse, flowing from her hands.

Sasha screams, unable to deflect this stream of magic. Her spine curls entirely in the opposite way of how it's supposed to, cracking loudly. Her mouth opens so wide, the corners of her mouth tear along with the muscles of her jaw, dislodging it completely.

Unexperienced and unfamiliar with their kind of magic, Severus attempts to come up with a way to save her, when he suddenly feels a burning on his left arm.

"Sasha, He's calling!"

He grabs her arm roughly. "Don't you dare," the woman speaks, threateningly, finally lifting the curse.

The last thing a weakened Sasha hears is her grandmother's angered cry, "No!"

[To be continued]


End file.
